Ethnic Composition of Children Referred into North Manchester Social Communication Assessment and Intervention Team with Suspected Autistic Spectrum Disorder

The paper assessed the ethnicity of referrals into SCAIT for possible ASD in the last financial year. Ethnicity information was compared to data from Manchester City Council on ethnic populations in electoral wards. There was found to be a difference between the percentage of referrals of different ethnic groups and the ethnic composition of the North Manchester population. Patients of White British, Bangladeshi, Chinese and Other ethnic groups were found to be underrepresented in the sample, whereas patients of Black African, Black Caribbean, and Pakistani ethnicities were proportionally overrepresented. There is a need for further investigation into ethnicity of referrals for assessment of possible ASD.